Teach SA

As a teacher, there are many things that grate my nerves, I think I have expressed more than a few on my blog. The one thing that truly irks me is the way teachers are viewed by society and parents, which then filters down to how the children view you.

Yesterday we held a ‘Career Day’ at school. It was an idea I had. We invited many different professionals from different careers to do a presentation and then have a Q&A session. I thought it was awesome for the most part- presenters came with interesting videos, questions, slideshows, brochures, etc. and they offered practical advice. My colleague and I sat and listened to two young lawyers and said how we wished we had someone address us like this at school and we both felt inspired to study law!

One of the speakers was my dad. He did so well- he was so relevant and encouraging. The kids really responded well to him and I heard some of them in the quad talking about how much he gets paid to post a tweet. One girl then asked me, “Miss, isn’t your father disappointed in you for just being a teacher? Like he did so much with his life and you..?

And that’s it. Right there. Teachers are seen as unambitious or as having easy working hours and getting long holidays. I remember my husband thinking I’d be sitting down all day. What a laugh! In South Africa, our corrupt and inefficient government has got away with paying unqualified teachers to sit in a class all day and ‘teach’, when in fact they are incompetent glorified baby sitters. The reputation of the teaching profession has been utterly tarnished.

We do not have any major financial targets or incentives that could indicate our dedication, hard work, creativity, management skills or sheer brilliance in the classroom. It is sad that society measures success financially but I would not say no to bonuses or incentives that are performance based.

One of my favourite jokes is this one…

When I watched the first part of the Finland Phenomenon, I was struck by how the parents (and society) recognise the crucial role that teachers play. They support teachers and treat them is true professionals, not mere kind-hearted, noble volunteers. Teachers there have to have a Masters degree but they are treated with the professionalism and esteem that comes with that.

I found the table below online and again had a chuckle to myself. It was a totally random search and I cannot seem to find the link but it clearly has misinformation. The point was to find a random visual representation to highlight perception vs reality. I teach for 46-50 hours per week. I still do lesson/weekly plans, set tests and exams, moderate work, mark, plan school events and extra murals, run extra lessons, search for materials online, develop worksheets, etc. For example, it takes roughly 5 hours to mark one set of English exams. (Also, I have no clue who decided that these are the “hard working” jobs. I think many people in a wide variety of jobs work exceptionally hard. But again… this is what was put out there… one has to love the internet!)

I am proud of what I do and I am passionate about my career. Maybe that’s also part of it- we see it as a “calling” not as a career and so we don’t give it the full respect it deserves. Well, we are all ‘called’ then into whatever career we find ourselves in. So please, don’t tell me I am brave or noble or kind to be a teacher. Tell me- and all the others- that we are intelligent and brilliant-minded and creative and hard working.

Thanks and G'bye...

https://jennariva.wordpress.com/2015/05/30/the-teaching-profession-in-south-africa/

14 Things...

A father wrote his kid 14 things to always remember. And I forget 9 of them every day.

I'm 31, which means I'm at the age where a lot of my friends are starting to have kids. I know they'll become wonderful adults because the parents they have will guide them well.

People around my age think a lot about future and family, and writer Evan Porter just went through it, although the future came sooner rather than later.

Things I'll Teach My First Kid Or, 14 Reasons Why I Suck | by Evan Porter

When I found out, I was holding a six-pack of beer.

“I'm pregnant," she said. Words I knew would be coming one day soon, but not this soon. I always pictured hearing them on a sunny front porch, wind gently rocking a wooden swing back and forth. Or something like that. And there'd be music. Something upbeat and hopeful like what plays before the final credits of a Zach Braff movie.

I never thought I'd hear those words standing in the doorway of our dark, half-packed apartment, weary from a long day. My wife, Sarah, eyes puffy and mascara-soaked from her own shitty day, and then again from crying tears of joy, holding not one, but two pregnancy tests as proof.

My first thought was that we were about to miss our fantasy football draft.

My second thought was to open a beer.

My third thought was, “I can't believe those were my first two thoughts."

It takes a moment like that to realize how woefully unprepared you are to be responsible for another human being. How terrifying it all is. And I'm not talking about waking up in the middle of the night to sooth a crying baby. I'm not talking about changing a dirty diaper or saying goodbye to your “raucous" social life (Sarah and I watch, on average, ten thousand hours of TV every night; so, that shipped sailed a while ago).

I'm talking about when your child learns to talk and what you say to him or her actually matters. When you have to start really thinking about how you want to raise them. What you'll tell them when they get picked on at school. What you'll say when they take a philosophical stand against the concept of homework.

It makes you question your values. Or wonder if you even have values to question.

And this line of thinking has led me to believe that I am already a terrible father. Because when I think about the things I want to instill in our first child, I realize that I embody exactly none of them.

But here they are, anyway:

I'll say, listen, kid, not everyone has to like you. Speak your mind when you know you're right. Tell friends the truth even when they don't want to hear it. Don't just nod and “see both sides" and give pity laughs to people who make bad jokes.

I'll say, work hard in school. Not so you can make money and not for the bragging rights, but because if you don't, one day you'll look back and wish you'd made yourself proud.

I'll say, clean your room. I'll say, you see this 6-inch pile of dirty clothes next to my bed? It makes me feel horrible every time I look at it. You'd be surprised how accomplished seeing your bedroom floor can make you feel.

I'll say, always finish what you started. There's a reason I can only teach you to be “pretty good", and not great, at guitar, or photography, or card tricks, or any number of things I picked up and abandoned. If you have a talent for something, don't ever waste it.

I'll say, don't wait so long to get comfortable in your own skin. Phases are great and all when you're a teenager, but there's a fine line between exploring things and getting caught up in fads. Don't ever feel like you need to fit into a mold or a category to be accepted.

I'll say, take care of your body, because you only get one. Floss every day. And don't drink so much soda and Red Bull. You can't ever undo the cavities they'll give you.

I'll say, force yourself to experience new things. I know that people who studied abroad in college are obnoxious, but I don't care; you should do it. Because when they're yammering on about their summer in Madrid, you'll roll your eyes but you'll really just be jealous that you spent your summer watching TV.

I'll say, don't get so uncomfortable around homeless people. They're not going to rob you. Be better than that. Treat them with respect. Buy them a sandwich if you can. And give to charity as often as possible. You'll always have a few bucks to spare.

I'll say, pay attention to the news. And politics. Don't spend all your time on social media and TV and movies and sports. Devote your attention to things that actually matter. Be informed and well read. Don't ever be forced to stealthily object from conversations about current events.

I'll say, be ruthless. Don't go with the flow. Find something you want and put in the work to become exceptional. So many people dream big, but they're afraid to sit down and do the work. Don't be one of them.

I'll say, don't text and drive. Seriously. There's nothing that can't wait. I mean it.

I'll say, put your family first, above everything. When they need you, be there. Don't ask questions. Don't let being tired from work become an excuse. They're all you have.

I'll say, don't ever wish you were anything or anyone else. Embrace your flaws, because everyone has them.

And I'll say, if you fall short of anything, even everything on this list, that's alright.

I'll still love you.

I'll always love you. People keep asking me if I'm scared. And I guess — even in light of everything I said above — the answer is no.

I know that there'll be times when I have no idea what to do with this kid. When I reach into my bag of morals and values and come up empty. And for times like that, I'll look to my wife. I'll remember how, standing in our dark, half-packed apartment, on one of the most important nights of our life, she put the pregnancy tests down on the table, smiled, and said:

“Of course we're still doing the fantasy draft."

A small reminder of why we fell in love in the first place. That what we've created together didn't happen in spite of our flaws.

It happened because of them.

And knowing that, there's really nothing to be scared of.

Noam Chomsky Talks About How Kids Acquire Language & Ideas in an Animated Video by Michel Gondry

These days Noam Chomsky is probably most famous for his consistent, outspoken criticism of U.S. foreign policy. Yet before the War on Terror and the War on Drugs, Chomsky became internationally famous for proposing a novel solution to an age-old question: what does a baby know?

Plato argued that infants retain memories of past lives and thus come into this world with a grasp of language. John Locke countered that a baby’s mind is a blank slate onto which the world etches its impression. After years of research, Chomsky proposed that newborns have a hard-wired ability to understand grammar. Language acquisition is as elemental to being human as, say, dam building is to a beaver. It’s just what we’re programmed to do. Chomsky’s theories revolutionized the way we understand linguistics and the mind.

A little while ago, film director and music video auteur Michel Gondryinterviewed Chomsky and then turned the whole thing into an extended animated documentary called Is the Man Who Is Tall Happy? (which is currently available on Netflix’s streaming service).

Above is a clip from the film. In his thick French accent, Gondry asks if there is a correlation between language acquisition and early memories. For anyone who’s watched Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, you know that memory is one of the director’s major obsessions. Over Gondry’s rough-hewn drawings, Chomsky expounds: “Children know quite a lot of a language, much more than you would expect, before they can exhibit that knowledge.” He goes on to talk about new techniques for teaching deaf-blind children and how a day-old infant interprets the world.

As the father of a toddler who is at the cusp of learning to form thoughts in words, I found the clip to be fascinating. Now, if only Chomsky can explain why my son has taken to shouting the word “bacon” over and over and over again.

To gain a deeper understanding of Chomsky’s thoughts on linguistics, see our previous post:  The Ideas of Noam Chomsky: An Introduction to His Theories on Language & Knowledge (1977)

Related content:

Michel Gondry’s Finest Music Videos for Björk, Radiohead & More: The Last of the Music Video Gods

Noam Chomsky & Michel Foucault Debate Human Nature & Power (1971)

What Makes Us Human?: Chomsky, Locke & Marx Introduced by New Animated Videos from the BBC

Jonathan Crow is a Los Angeles-based writer and filmmaker whose work has appeared in Yahoo!, The Hollywood Reporter, and other publications. You can follow him at @jonccrow. And check out his blog Veeptopus, featuring lots of pictures of badgers and even more pictures of vice presidents with octopuses on their heads.  The Veeptopus store is here.

Bright Child vs Gifted Learner

It is often quite hard to determine whether a student is gifted or just very bright.  This chart is helpful:

I’m not sure who to credit for this chart, as I have seen it from many sources.

This one is even better, because it lists the pros and cons that come with being identified as a gifted child.  It is also geared more to teachers.

How to Spot a Gifted Student

Gifted students possess some common characteristics. Recognizing these general traits and understanding how they may reveal themselves in the classroom is an important step toward working effectively with this unique group of children.

Some of these behaviors are listed and described below. Positive traits are included along with those behaviors that may frustrate you as a teacher. If a student in your classroom exhibits these characteristics on a consistent basis, there is a good chance he or she is gifted.

The Gifted Student	But….
· Asks many questions and is very curious · Possesses a large amount of information · Has a good memory	· Easily gets “off task” and “off topic” · Is impatient when not called on in class

The Gifted Student	But….
· Learns new information quickly · Retains information easily · Masters reading skills earlier · Demonstrates strong abilities in math · Displays unusual academic achievement · Finishes classwork quickly	· Is easily bored · Can become disruptive in class · Shows strong resistance to repetitive activities and memorization · Completes work quickly but sloppily

The Gifted Student	But….
· Is interested in many things · Becomes involved in a variety of activities · Is motivated to try new things · Enjoys a challenge	· May resist working on activities apart from areas of interest · Leaves projects unfinished · Takes on too much and becomes overwhelmed

The Gifted Student	But….
· Thinks independently · Expresses unique and original opinions · Is self-motivated	· Challenges authority · Does not handle criticism well · Does not work well in groups

The Gifted Student	But….
· Uses higher level thinking skills (analysis, synthesis, evaluation) · Makes connections other students don’t see · Considers unusual approaches to problem-solving	· Tends to be absent-minded regarding practical details · Forgets homework assignments

The Gifted Student	But….
· Has a strong sense of justice · Likes to debate current issues and real life problems	· Can be very critical of self and others · Likes to argue a point · Is a perfectionist and expects others to be perfect as well

The Gifted Student	But….
· Has a sophisticated sense of humor · Understands subtle humor · Enjoys plays on words and satire	· Easily gets carried away with a joke · Has a tendency to become the “class clown”

The Gifted Student	But….
· Demonstrates strong expressive skills · Is sensitive to feelings of others · Elaborates on ideas · Shows skill in drama/art/music/language	· Sometimes perceived as a “know-it-all” by peers · Is sometimes “bossy” to peers in group situations

http://legacy.teachersfirst.com/gifted/spot.html

Feelings show...

Ex-Lovers Meet Each Other For The First Time After 30 Years

In the 1970s, artist Marina Abramovic and her then boyfriend broke up. It was heartbreaking but also a very special moment. They decided to go to the opposite ends of the Great Wall of China and walked towards each other in the middle. When they met, they gave each other one last embrace and parted ways. After that moment, they never saw each other again.

More than 30 years passed and Marina held a live art performance at the Museum of Modern Art. For the display, complete strangers were expected to sit in silence across from Marina as they stared at each other.But something unique happend one day. After you press play, wait for the 1:30 mark, where you’ll be able to see the moment her old boyfriend shows up at her display. It was the first time they saw each other after more than 30 years, and there are no words for their reactions.

Great Teachers Save Lives (Literally)

So why don’t we reward and keep the best ones?

Stephanie Stuck is a spunky high school senior who’s full of life, humor, and optimism. But it wasn’t always like that.

Growing up in a small town just south of Portland, Oregon, Stephanie barely knew her mother, and from a young age she bounced from foster home to foster home.

For much of her time in foster care, Stephanie suffered through emotional and physical abuse.

“When I was in the system, some foster parents would tell me I was dumb and stupid,” she says. 

Feeling unloved and abandoned, Stephanie became severely depressed. She contemplated taking her own life.

But every time those ugly thoughts came to her, Stephanie would hear her elementary school teacher’s voice telling her she was special, smart, and loved.

“Four years ago, I was ready to kill myself,” says Stephanie, who turned 18 last week. “And I probably would have if Ms. Neerhout hadn’t inspired me to believe in myself as much as she believed in me.” 

Mary Neerhout saw something special in Stephanie from her very first day in her fifth-grade class.

Stephanie was an extremely shy kid plagued by low self-esteem. So in every class, Ms. Neerhout went beyond the day’s lesson plan to show her compassion, trust, and encouragement.

Ms. Neerhout also taught Stephanie to love reading and writing, tools that became Stephanie’s means to escape and express herself during interminable years of abuse.

According to research by The New Teacher Project, a student who is fortunate enough to have an “irreplaceable teacher” can learn five to six additional months’ worth of math and reading compared to low-performing teachers.

“She always made sure I felt smart and told me I had potential and that nothing could stop me if I stayed dedicated to learning,” said Stephanie.

That was more than seven years ago, but the lessons stuck.

Today, Stephanie, who recently received one of Stand for Children’s Beat the Odds Scholarships, is preparing to start her freshman year at Portland State University in the fall.

“I seriously wouldn’t be going to college if it wasn’t for her helping me to believe in myself and develop an enthusiasm to learn,” she says.

Stephanie could have been just another in the long line of sad statistics: a high school dropout, an addict, chronically unemployed, or even a teenage suicide. Instead, thanks to a great teacher, she’s on her way to college, a career, and a stable, productive life.

May has been Teacher Appreciation Month, a time to highlight and celebrate committed and skilled teachers like Mary Neerhout, whose skillful instruction helps students succeed academically and whose support and encouragement helps students overcome life challenges. 

High school English teacher Shanna Peeples, the 2015 National Teacher of the Year (NTY), eloquently describes what it takes for teachers to help underserved students excel.

“My students, survivors of deep and debilitating trauma, have shaped the kind of teacher I am,” Peeples wrote on her NTY application. “They have taught me to never make a promise I can’t keep because so many already have learned to see the world through suspicious eyes.”

Effective teachers like Mary Neerhout and Shanna Peeples can change the life trajectories for their students. The data backs that up. 

According to research by The New Teacher Project, a student who is fortunate enough to have an “irreplaceable teacher” can learn five to six additional months’ worth of math and reading compared to low-performing teachers. Additional research also shows that students who fall behind usually don’t catch up. 

Harvard University Professor of Economics Raj Chetty’s research on income mobility goes a step further by suggesting that a single great teacher may improve students’ lifetime earnings by $50,000 per student or $1.4 million per class. 

Chetty’s emerging research also connects the dots between students’ results on vital assessments and life outcomes: Elementary and middle school teachers who help raise their students’ standardized test scores are more likely to see their students attend college, earn higher salaries, live in better neighborhoods, see lower teenage birth rates, and save more for retirement. The study concludes that working with educators to improve the quality of teaching is not only beneficial to a student but also to society as a whole.

Notwithstanding the tremendous burdens that poverty and family breakdown place on children, it’s clear that great teachers make a critical difference and can help level the playing field for students from broken homes and/or underserved communities.

And yet, ridiculously, our public education system isn’t set up to develop, identify, reward, or retain great teachers.

Take teacher preparation. While there are notable exceptions, including Arizona State University and the nonprofit Urban Teacher Center, teacher preparation programs, too focused on theory, typically do not prepare prospective teachers for classroom success. 

Take teacher evaluation and professional development. Though Washington, D.C., Denver, and Hillsborough County, Florida, have made accurate and useful teacher evaluations a priority, school districts still too often fail to accurately assess how effective their teachers are or support teachers to continually improve their craft. Two big reasons for that are principal quality isn’t anywhere near the priority it should be in our school systems, and also principals and assistant principals often supervise more than 30 teachers, making it difficult to spend the time necessary to accurately assess and effectively support teachers.

Finally, take compensation. Beyond Washington, D.C., Dallas, and a few other districts, teacher salary increases—when they happen at all—are based on years of service and degrees rather than effectiveness, responsibility, and teaching high-needs students.

So, clearly, there’s a whole lot more we need to do than appreciating teachers every May and generally. 

Just think of how many more students like Stephanie could be helped if states and school districts passed common-sense policies that led to more Mary Neerhouts and Shanna Peeples teaching the students who need effective teachers the most.